ADHD Medications and Neurofeedback

The Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD has been one of the longest studies performed on a select group of ADHD children. Recently published in the journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the data are somewhat alarming.

Data from the study were used to evaluate whether stimulant medication effects physical growth in children. The data collected over three years indicates that both height and weight are decreased in children using stimulant medication.

Co-author, Professor William Pelham, of the University at Buffalo, says: “The children had a substantial decrease in their rate of growth so they weren’t growing as much as other kids both in terms of their height and in terms of their weight. And the second was that there were no beneficial effects – none.”

Pelham adds, “In the short run [medication] will help the child behave better, in the long run it won’t. And that information should be made very clear to parents.”

Here’s the most telling observation of the study: “I think that we exaggerated the beneficial impact of medication in the first study. We had thought that children medicated longer would have better outcomes. That didn’t happen to be the case. There’s no indication that medication’s better than nothing in the long run.”

Our good professor, Dr. Russell Barkley just spoke at a national conference citing that medication is by far the best and most trusted method. Unfortunately dinosaurs like Barkley do exist, are respected, and yet completely propagate information that has no substance in current research. Barkley is also a critic of neurofeedback.

On another front –

ADHD Drugs To Be Examined

“Two federal agencies will collaborate in the broadest study ever of prescription drugs for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the potential for cardiovascular problems.

Over the next two years, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will examine clinical data of some 500,000 adults and children who have taken such medications to determine whether they increase the risk of heart attack or stroke, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced.

The FDA’s Gerald Del Pan, MD, said case reports describe “adverse cardiovascular events in adults and pediatric patients with certain underlying risk factors who receive drug treatment for ADHD, but it is unknown whether … these events are causally related to treatment.”

The study of all ADHD drugs by class will be coordinated by Vanderbilt University, with analysis by its researchers, Kaiser Permanente of California, the HMO Research Network and i3 Drug Safety, plus the FDA and AHRQ, the government said.”

Curiously, this study has already been done with results published by the University of Oregon. I’ve published the results of this study before, but it was not at all favorable for ADHD drugs. Real data on long term effects, safety, comparative analysis, and general efficacy are lacking. Let’s hope the new study treats the subject with the objectivity and professionalism of the University of Oregon.

As I’ve said in past entries, I’m not a proponent of clinical neurofeedback, and I find there are limitations to some of its research, much of the research, especially research performed over the last few years, demonstrates the possibility that the brain can and will make changes provided it is given the right stimulation. Unfortunately, clinical neurofeedback training doesn’t address other core issues like organization, memory, discriminatory processing, auditory processing, time on-task, and other cognitive skills. That’s exactly why I created Play Attention. It addresses far more than clinical neurofeedback.

Probably most importantly, neither neurofeedback or Play Attention cause any stunted growth, weight loss, tics, or any side effects like medication. From our follow-up with our clients over the last eleven years, positive training effects last as well. Far unlike medication which “In the short run will help the child behave better, in the long run it won’t. And that information should be made very clear to parents.”